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User blog:Unin/FrodoTip: Gundam?
This will hopefully be one of a series of articles meant to address common Frodo complaints. Caution: Occasional injects of real world physics, possibly involving maths, may be involved. FRODO: Why don't they just use <insert gundam technology here> Thanks to SkyZephyrus for inadvertently suggesting this topic. As a UC fanboy myself, I consider his question an honest inquiry and not Frodocy. That said... #'Beam Anything '- No. Minovsky particles, while a brilliant justification for giant robots (as far as mecha contrivances go), don't exist outside of Tominoland. Neither do super mega particle anythings, or i-field magic. #'Dummy - '''BETA prioritize targets by processing complexity (be it digital or neural) and flight capability. Missiles and so-called "smart ordinance" have been used in diversionary tactics, especially to draw laser fire prior to fielding combat units. However any decoy measures that could rival the priority of a human piloted TSF would need to be not only enormously complex but also disposable and would therefore be prohibitively expensive. #'Sealant Launcher - Engineers defending Yokohama base actually use a sealant technology similar to those in Universal Century. Instead of being used to combat spacecraft decompression, they are used to close off entrances to the base, as a quick setting concrete-like material. While there appears to be little use for vacuum countermeasures in the MLA, one could image it's use as a possible confining or delaying tactic against small scale BETA groups. That said, the sealant in muv luv, while quick by modern material standards, still requires many minutes to set. #AMBAC, Tail Binder and Wing Binder' - Perhaps this may be a useful adaptation once Earth is liberated and humans bring the fight to BETA in space, however within Earth's atmosphere; simple posturing, flight control surfaces and THRUST VECTORING are more efficient forms of reorientation. #'Apogee Motor / Vernier Thrusters '- see F-15･ACTV Active Eagle or F-22A Raptor #'Shelf nozzle / Fin nozzle / Sturm Booster '- see Jump Unit #'Flying Armor / Wave rider '- see Re-entry Shell #'Magnet Coating '- While mobile suits are not, strictly speaking actuated solely by hydraulics or pneumatics, they do rely on extending linear actuators; that is to say, their "muscles" apply force by pushing. TSF on the other hand use a contracting form of linear actuator; carbonic muscles that flex by pulling. In short, TSFs operate via tension, much like biological muscles. This results in positive pressure on joints, whereas extending actuators, under some leverage circumstances, can result in negative pressure on joints. A repelling magnetic field, combined with negative joint pressure, could potentially reduce friction. However, with positive joint pressure, the field would need to work against the applied force in order to mitigate friction. This is not to rule it out completely (applied force via leverage increases linearly with decreasing distance from the pivot point (joint axis), while magnetic force increases exponentially), however it would certainly be less effective than in universal century. #'Sub Flight System (SFS) - Lacking magic particle fields to counteract gravity, hoverboards are not feasible in Muv Luv. TSFs may however be transported by several types of Fixed-Wing Transport Aircraft #Arm Raker '- As opposed to sexy latex-based thought control? No, thank you. #'Linear floating seat - As opposed to -YO DAWG, I HURD YOU LIKE GIANT ROBOTS, SO I PUT A ROBOT IN YOUR ROBOT SO YOU CAN RUMBLE WHILE YOU RUMBLE #Mono-Eye System - Yeah, that whole "limited field of view keeps your pilot from getting distracted" is bullshit. Sexy as hell design-wise, but completely unjustifiable tactically. #Panoramic screen' - retinal projection pretty much trumps this, unless you need a copilot. Probably less eyestrain though, and still preserves meganekko. #'Shock Balloon - Actually...yeah, fund it. Especially since there's no need for display surfaces. Fortified suits probably absorb much of the impact a shock balloon would take though. Still, air bags would be nice. Ooh! and cup holders! #Morvable Flame- Stupid gimmick to sell more/cheaper toys. Modular armor means faster/easier/cheaper replacement of damaged parts. Why replace an entire arm when your fore-arm blade edge armor goes dull or a tank takes a chunk out of your super carbon flight surface? #Semi-Transparent Coating / Beam-Resistant Coating / Anti-Beam Coating / Anti-Beam Coating Mantle - Reflective anti-laser tech? see FrodoTip:Mirrors Absorbent/Ablative anti-laser tech? nice idea; temporary fix, not strong enough. #Heatproof field - releasing "cool air" to counter friction sounds like a dandy idea. Except in the context of atmospheric re-entry, the heat is coming not from friction, but from compression of the air in front of the craft. adding "cool air", or any gas for that matter, to this compression heating system makes things worse, not better. #Ballute' - Seriously? You want to give laser class BETA an even bigger target? And all they have to do is poke a few holes in it and you die? At least re-entry shells can be used as a kinetic energy weapon. #'Psycommu System / Quasi-Psycommu System '- Thought control already exists in ML, for persons with or without space-mutant powers. Though Buffwhite devices might make for faster ESPers interfaces potentially. #'Half Control System - XM3 anyone? #Psyco-control system' - ESP range is implied to be severely limited in MLA. So much so that the ESPers of Alternative III are put into two-seater TSFs and flown directly into hives in order to conduct mere communication experiments. TSFs are operable remotely via suit link and slaving to other TSFs, however all 3 systems are so short ranged as to necessitate the remote operator's presence on the battlefield. Kinda defeats the purpose... Unless Kashiwagi ever develops esper powers. #'Combat system - see Combat Hypnosis #Bio-Sensor '- There's bullshit space mutant magic, and then there's BULLSHIT SPACE MUTANT MAGIC. This is the latter. #'Psycoframe / Bio-Computer '- sexy latex-based thought conrole + XM3 anyone? #'Funnels / Bits / Incoms' - Remote controlled flying laser guns... Where should we start? RC is actually the least of its' troubles, as even TSFs can be partially controlled remotely, though only at a short distance. But Flying laser guns? In space, a turret can re-orient fairly easily, even without thrust. But under gravity, in an atmosphere, constant trust is required just to keep the dang thing airborn. Hovering UAVs are currently under real world development, but as a weapons platform, they leave much to be desired in terms of stability, as there is little balancing feedback for the pilot. Humanity in MLA has no laser weaponry strong enough to combat BETA, only kinetic weapons. But kinetic weapons suffer from Newton's 3rd law. The smallest common munitions in MLA known to be affective against grappler class BETA is the 36mm depleted uranium high-velocity armor-piercing (HVAP) chain gun round. The GAU-8/A is a realworld gun of comparable force (30mm depleted uranium), though potentially a higher rate of fire. It exerts '''nearly 5 tons of recoil'. To outfit a UAV with weaponry of comparable stopping power would require thrust systems capable of countering such recoil, requiring large engines. Essentially, you would need a weapons platform the size of an attack helicopter. Kinda expensive for glorified laser bait. Please feel free to leave other gundam technologies (UC or otherwise) in the comments section. Next FrodoTip will probably be on macross tech; those are welcome in the comments as well. Category:Blog posts Category:FrodoTip